Grasple Teacher Day May 2020

On May 7th 2020, Grasple organised its second Teacher Day. It’s an event where teachers share their experiences related to online practice and assessment. This time it was held fully online, due to covid-19. With over forty participants and six speakers from many different universities, universities of applied sciences, and secondary education, it was a well-attended event to highlight the experiences and useful lessons from educators in the field.

View the recording of the event below.

Answers to questions

It was great to see much interaction between the participants. Everyone could ask questions in the chat and this opportunity was used. The chat quickly filled up with good questions.

Below you can find answers to some of the questions that were raised during the event.
Please note that some of the questions can only be answered by the speakers. We’re following up with them and new answers will continuously be added below.

Q: Johannes, do you also use other exercises from the textbook?
A: We do use other exercises, namely cases and assignments that are graded. But all are tightly controlled to make sure everything fits together.

Q: What do your exercises look like, Johannes?
A: The exercises in Grasple are quick and constructed in such a way that students don’t need additional materials, such as a calculator, but that they could also do them while in the bus for example. They are a mix of open questions and multiple choice, where students have indicated whether they agree or disagree with several statements for example.

Q: How are those notifications that Johannes mentioned broadcasted?
A: using our LMS (Canvas).

Q: Students seem to appreciate Grasple a lot, that is great. But did someone measure the effectiveness? Are students using grasple getting better at it vs. students not using grasple?
A: This is a good question, but one that cannot be answered briefly. The first thing to consider is: how do we measure ‘getting better’? and compared to what? not doing anything or reading from a book?
There are some indications - as shown in the figure below - that Grasple might be quite effective in increasing students’ grades, with the underlying theory that the more students practice (at the right level), the better they will master the subjects and pass the exams.

However, we are very cautious and hesitant to use this to draw broad claims, as those claims can only be stated with confidence when based on randomised control trials. (correlation does not imply causation. Read more about this and other points of caution in our article ‘data disclaimers’)
So far, Grasple has not been studied in a randomised control trial.
Currently there are several researchers that are exploring data from and about Grasple.
When these researchers post their findings, we will of course share them so that we can collectively draw evidence-based insights into the effects and effectiveness of educational tools like Grasple.

How do you manage the integration of Grasple exercises with the lectures when your exercises are used in other courses (where you are not the lecturer)? Any other tips?

Q: Are video’s (short lessons) also included in some grasple courses to explain bits of theory to the students? I am very curious to see some examples of mini lectures in Grasple
A: Kirsten: Yes, videos and knowledge clips are a great way to explain theory and include in a Grasple lesson. Cathy: I use it at a high school for physics

Q: How many exam questions do you plan to create per topic/exam?
A: Fokko and Iris - Goal is 5 questions/pool (if properly parametrized).
Exam is 1.5 hours; this determines the number of questions.

As mentioned, this is just an initial selection of the questions and answers. More will be added in the coming week(s).

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